We're not out of the woods yet: Whincup

The last time Jamie Whincup thought he'd turned the corner in his charge towards a record sixth V8 Supercars crown, he hit a brick wall.

So there's little wonder why the Holden star wants to play down his drought-breaking podium in Perth on Saturday.

The defending champion bounced back from a dismal 17th-placing in the weekend's opening race at Barbagallo Raceway to finish third in the second sprint behind teammate Craig Lowndes and Ford's championship leader Mark Winterbottom.

It brought to an end his run of eight races without a top-three finish.

It also marked the first time since Tasmania nearly two months ago that Lowndes and Whincup have stood on the podium together.

Lowndes labelled the result a "huge turnaround" for Red Bull Racing Australia after poor rounds in Auckland and Winton.

However Whincup, who jumped a spot to fifth on the overall standings, kept a lid on his thoughts.

"I said I thought we (turned the corner) a couple of rounds ago, but then it turned to shizzle again," he said.

"I won't make that statement again.

"We're happy with the result, but we're certainly not out of the woods yet."

The team is this weekend enjoying the company of technical guru Ludo Lacroix, a rare attendee at races who travelled to Western Australia to help rescue their season.

"He was yelling and screaming in his Frenchlish, but we couldn't understand him," Whincup joked when asked about the Frenchman's presence in the garage.

While there's no language barrier with new engineer David Cauchi, Whincup admitted to some growing pains.

Cauchi replaced Mark Dutton, the man who helped guide Whincup to his previous five titles, after he was promoted to team manager in the off-season.

"Cauchi's only new, so it takes a long time to get up to pace," he said.

"But he's doing a good job. Every round he's getting better and better.

"He'll be good come the end of the year."

Asked whether he can wait that long, the 31-year-old laughed: "I'm going to have to.

"We're up and all over the place (at the moment), but it's a good challenge.

"I'm not enjoying it now but I'll look back at it at the end of the year and think it's a bit of a laugh."

Whincup heads into the round's final race on Sunday 204 points adrift of Winterbottom.

Lowndes remains 110 points behind in second, with Holden stars Fabian Coulthard and James Courtney third and fourth.